PHOENIX — The Cardinals added one everyday player to their lineup on Friday, but their lineup felt the impact of two additional bats they’d been largely missing through the first 13 games of the season.
Left fielder Lars Nootbaar returned from the injured list (fractured ribs) and made his presence felt immediately with a towering home run, but Nolan Arenado’s bat also came alive in a way it hadn’t this season.
In his first at-bat on Friday night, Arenado launched a three-run home run deep into the left field seats at Chase Field. He snapped the longest homerless drought of his career at 39 games (154 plate appearances) with the 425-foot smash as part of a three-hit performance (3 for 5).
“I think that was the first ball I hit to the outfield this year,” Arenado said while chuckling after the Cardinals’ 9-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. “No, I hit it really well. It felt good. I’m just happy to come through. I’ve had some opportunities to drive some guys in, so it just felt good to come through for the guys.”
The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, left, celebrates his three-run home run against the Diamondbacks with third base coach Ron Warner during the first inning Friday, April 12, 2024, in Phoenix.
Arenado, an eight-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, entered the weekend series against the Diamondbacks batting .245 without the typical thump that has been his trademark.
Through the first 13 games of the season, he’d registered just three extra-base hits (all doubles).
“I saw it early, and that’s been my issue so far this year,” Arenado said. “I haven’t been able to pick up the ball early enough. I’ve been having a hard time with that. I’m just loading late. There’s a bunch of things. I don’t even want to go into detail. I’m just happy that I was able to see it early and make a good decision.”
Last year, Arenado got out of the gates slowly to the tune of .232/.282/.326 slash line with three home runs through the first 34 games of the season.
Then, in the matter of one road trip that featured stops in Chicago and Boston, Arenado’s bat heated up to a red-hot level. He belted five home runs and batted .476 during a five-game stretch that started on the road and carried over to a home series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Following Friday night’s series opener in Arizona, Arenado expressed optimism about how he’s feeling at the plate.
“I feel like I’m getting there,” Arenado said. “I’m finishing one-handed again, so that was really nice. I know people have been really upset about that. Believe me, I’ve been really upset about it. It felt good to just get my swing off today. There’s still some things I need to tweak here and there, but it was good.”
Arenado entered Saturday leading the team with 16 hits, and he is batting a team-best .357 with runners in scoring position. He’s long prided himself on his ability to be a run producer in the middle of the lineup. The cleanup hitter, Arenado often wears his struggles on his sleeve.
“He’s been working hard,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after the game. “We’ve talked about it’s a matter of time before he starts to feel good about his swing. When he does, he plays with a ton of confidence and it’s dangerous. Today was a good sign of that. He hit that ball a mile, followed up with a couple more hits. He found barrel. He looked really good today.”
Having Nootbaar back in the lineup should help in multiple ways. A Southern California native like Arenado, Nootbaar provides another potent bat as well as a voice very familiar with Arenado’s swing and approach at the plate.
The two have become close in recent years, Arenado even described Nootbaar as like a little brother this spring. They’ve hit together in the offseason for several years, and Nootbaar has credited Arenado with helping him make tweaks to his swing.
Nootbaar’s energetic and jovial nature also brings an element of light-heartedness to counter some of the expectations and pressure to produce that can be felt by a player like Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt.
“It’s been frustrating, but the guys have been picking me up,” Arenado said of his slow start. “It has been a team thing. I know me and Goldy are really hard on ourselves. We expect ourselves to do great things. I think the team as a group is doing a good job. Guys are having good at-bats. People are picking each other up. I just want to do my part.”
With his home run on Friday night, Nootbaar continued to enjoy success in Arizona. He now has gone 9 for 20 (.450) with three home runs in his career at Chase Field.
Of players with at least 30 plate appearances at Chase Field, Nootbaar leads in on-base percentage (.636) and slugging percentage (.952).
Nootbaar especially enjoyed seeing Arenado have a good day at the plate.
“I was fired up there,” Nootbaar said of Arenado’s home run on Friday night. “And he knew it too, right away when he hit it. I had a front row seat of that one. So that’s good to see. He looked really good tonight — all day, in all of his at-bats. I know he’s probably happy about that one. You could see it coming. He’s been taking better at-bats, continuously throughout the year. I’m always fired up when he does that.”
